Yelp Platform Grows to Include Spas and Salons

Sometime last year, Yelp introduced the Yelp Platform, a service designed to enable direct transactions on the popular online review site.

Initially the service was launched with site partners Eat24 and Delivery.com, which allowed users to confirm food ordering, delivery, and pickup services from their favorite restaurants and local businesses directly through Yelp. This week, Yelp has announced that Yelp Platform is expanding to include spas and salons – through service management platform Booker.

This will allow Yelp users to make and schedule bookings at their favorite spas and salons. “Now you can head to Yelp to find just the place, then schedule your appointment directly from a Booker-supported spa or salon,” wrote Partha Sundaram, product manager for Yelp. “Not only can you book directly from your computer or Yelp’s mobile apps; you can (also) choose to save your payment details so you won’t have to enter them again for the billionth time.”

The expansion of the Yelp Platform reaffirms the importance of streamlining the experience for Yelp users, who – representative of today’s active, information-seeking consumers – are increasingly dependent on online business reviews and ratings to guide their purchase decisions.

For business owners, meanwhile, the service introduces a unique capability to close the sales loop and become part of what is quickly becoming a viable online marketplace. Added Sundaram: “We’re continuing to add new categories and partners in order to bring consumers more ways to transact directly on Yelp” – which means that we can certainly expect to see other business categories integrated with Yelp Platform.

Interested in partnering with Yelp through Yelp Platform? Visit yelp.com/developers for more information.

Migs Bassig

Migs is the Content Manager for ReviewTrackers. He's a creative writer who has helped numerous companies communicate more effectively online, and he loves sharing his local marketing knowledge to help brands and business succeed.

Discussion

Patricia Gill

July 23rd, 2015

Finally, we can book beauty saloons upfront online. This is going to be awesome, no more calls and providing unnecessary information. Simply book online and show up. I am expecting more similar time preserving add-on’s as soon as possible. Keep up the good work Yelp and surprise us more frequently.